Strikes aint what they used to be

Edward Lapham is the executive editor of Automotive News. He writes commentaries for Automotive News online every business day. His commentaries also can be found here.

News that Chrysler workers are voicing objections to the tentative agreement between the automaker and the UAW suggests that there should have been a longer strike.

Union bigwigs at Solidarity House need to keep that in mind when they set a strike deadline at Ford.

Think about it. The UAW strike against GM lasted for two days, and that contract sailed through ratification.

At Chrysler, the strike was over in six hours -- hardly long enough for anyone to work up a sweat or an appetite on the picket line. Some of the Chrysler local union leaders starting grumbling publicly about the pact not long after the details were revealed.

At least one influential UAW local in Missouri already has voted down the contract.

Now the folks who did the Chrysler deal are looking for a better way to explain it -- that is, sell it -- to the rank and file.

Its not fair that its taking so long because the energy needs to move on to Ford.

The way bargaining has gone this year, you could expect the UAW eventually to set a strike deadline for 11 oclock some morning, and when talks breaks down, go on strike. Workers would stream out of Ford factories waving colorful banners and freshly painted picket signs while singing some ancient labor anthem such as Solidarity Forever.

But they had better sing fast, and maybe skip some of the verses, because the strike wont last long.

The way things have been going this year, you could expect a tentative agreement between Ford and the UAW to be announced after an intense bargaining session over what amounts to a long lunch hour.

The big question that everyone should be asking is: Whats for dessert?